Weekend of Boxing From Around the Globe

By Crafty Stan

LENNY DAWS V STEVE WILLIAMS



British Light Welterweight Title Fight. Fri 9th Jul 10pm BST London, UK

Steve Williams had a decent amateur pedigree and has a solid unbeaten professional record compiled to date but it is fair to say that this will be a massive step up in class of opponent for him so he better be in prime mental condition as well as physical because he is facing a battle hardened pro who knows how to grind out performances in these TV fights.

Lenny Daws clearly won his previous contest against Jason Cook on points in my opinion. The judges were clearly watching a different fight to have scored it a draw. Daws started quite slowly but eventually began to wear his opponent down and by the end of proceedings most people felt he was a deserved winner and not merely deserving on clinging onto his title with a draw.

I expect Williams to begin well and maybe even build up an early points lead but once Daws works himself into the contest and begins to line up his opponent I expect him to claw back the advantage and take control in the middle rounds. If the contest goes to points it could be very close indeed with Daws perhaps once again just doing enough to keep hold of his belt but I am veering towards expecting Daws to land a stoppage some time in or after the 9th Round.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

2 Points on Daws via KO/TKO/DQ @ 4.5 (Betfred)

0.5 Points on Daws Round 9 @ 23 (Betfred)

0.5 Points on Daws Round 10 @ 23 (Betfred)


HENRY LUNDY V JOHN MOLINA



Lightweight Bout, Sat 10th Jul 3am BST Rhode Island, US

After giving out a large amount of trash talking in the build up to this one, Henry Lundy better make sure he can walk the walk in what is touted as a boxer versus puncher clash as part of ESPN's Friday fight nights. Lundy on the surface looks a cut above his hard punching opponent, John Molina. Having been outclassed by veteran Martin Honorio, Molina is now in must win mode to avoid becoming a complete also-ran in the division. However this fight could well be a step too far for him.

In the Honorio fight Molina was made to look stupid, throwing a bevy of wild punches which looked nowhere near like landing on his opponent. It worries me what a Michael Katsidis/Juan Manual Marquez type could do to him and signifies to me that he is a level, possibly two levels below world class level.

If Lundy can stay relatively elusive then it should be a comfortable night’s work for him. Avoiding Molina's big bombs and in particular during the early rounds is crucial to him maintaining the form lines.

Off the top of my head initially I made Lundy a 1.2 shot for the fight, and then I re-watched the Molina-Honorio fight and re-evaluated him as a 1.16 shot.

At 1.4 the prices look far too generous in my opinion and it looks a max bet to me.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

5 Points (MAX) on Lundy @ 1.4 (Bet365)  

Crafty Stan